Latest Area News Headlines

WORTHINGTON – According to information released Monday by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, a downtown Worthington site is being recommended for placement on the State Superfund Program due to elevated levels of chlorinated volatile organic compounds. Currently a paved lot, the site at 1101 Second Avenue was home to the Exclusive Cleaners from 1969 to 1998 and prior to that housed a gas station.

The site has been under investigation for more than 20 years.

In the last two years, soil gas samples collected from the site show concentrations of the drycleaning solvent...

WORTHINGTON – Customers looking for a bargain were flocking to Peebles at Northland Mall Monday as word got out that everything was on clearance.

Peebles is the latest store to pull out of the troubled mall. Signs on the front of the building state the store is closing and everything must go. According to a sales associate, Peebles employees were informed last week that the store was closing, and clearance sales began Saturday. The store is expected to be out of the mall by the end of the month.

A call to the Stage Store Inc offices, the corporate office of Peebles, was not...

WORTHINGTON – The non-essential water use ban will stay in place for the time being, according to Worthington Public Utilities Manager Scott Hain.

Although water continues to flow over the dams at local lakes, it hasn’t made a significant impact on the Bella Wellfield, where water levels are measured each week. Currently, the level at Well 26, used to determine a static well level, is just inches above the 16 year average, even after the heavy June rains.

WORTHINGTON - Water main work on Omaha Avenue from Dover Street to Miller Street is scheduled to begin today. Omaha...

LUVERNE – A pedestrian in a motorized wheelchair was struck and killed by a man driving a U-Haul style truck Wednesday evening in downtown Luverne.

According to information released by Rock County Sheriff Evan Verbrugge, Marv Cleppe, age 71, of Luverne, was in his wheelchair stopped at a cross walk on Main Street preparing to go east at approximately 8:50 p.m. Timothy James, age 52, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, was driving the truck and stopped at a red light, preparing to turn right onto Cedar Street. When the light turned green, both men proceeded forward and the two collided....

WORTHINGTON - In honor of Independence Day, all state, county and city offices will be closed on Friday,as will all financial institutions. Fareway will be closed Friday, but Hy-Vee and Walmart will observe normal business hours.

The City of Worthington and the Worthington Area Chamber of Commerce will be sponsoring the fireworks on the Fourth of July. The fireworks will be over Lake Okabena at dusk. Centennial Park, the beach and the Beach Nook in Worthington will be closing at 2 p.m. on Friday for firework set up. The park is cleared out for safety purposes. People will not be...

LUVERNE – Bail was set Wednesday afternoon at $20,000 with conditions for Christopher Michael Weber, age 25, who was charged in Rock County District Court with two counts of vehicular homicide or operation in the death of Andrea Boeve of Steen.

According to the criminal complaint, Boeve was riding her bicycle eastbound Monday on Highway 270 at about 11:28 a.m. pulling her two children in a trailer when she was struck by Weber’s pickup, which was also eastbound. Weber allegedly told law enforcement he was accessing online banking on his cell phone and...

WORTHINGTON – On a 4 to 1 vote the Nobles County Commissioners on Tuesday afternoon voted to approve a loan to the Buffalo Ridge Regional Rail Authority for up to $750,000 to get repairs started on the short line in Nobles and Rock County. The line has an estimated $1.5 million in damages from the June floods.

Commissioner Matt Widboom was the one dissenting vote, stating he struggled with the use of public tax dollars on an antiquated rail. Commissioner Bob Demuth said it was a thought they all had, something Commissioner Don Linssen also commented on, stating he couldn’t see...

LUVERNE – 25-year-old Christopher Weber of Brandon, SD, the man who was driving the pick-up that struck and killed Andrea Boeve Monday, is being held is the Nobles County Jail for vehicular homicide.

Formal charges, which had not yet been filed as of Tuesday afternoon, will come from Rock County.

Boeve, age 33, was riding a bicycle pulling a trailer with two children on Highway 270 when the truck hit the bike from behind. Boeve was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash. According to the Minnesota State Patrol, 4-year-old Claire Boeve and 1-year-old Mallorie Boeve...

STEEN – A 33-year-old Steen woman died Monday when the bicycle she was riding collided with a pick-up on Highway 270 in Rock County north of Steen. Andrea Boeve, a nurse practioner, died in the crash. Two children, 4-year-old Claire Boeve and 1-year-old Mallorie Boeve, were riding in a trailer pulled by Andrea’s bike and suffered non-life threatening injuries.

Boeve was riding her bike eastbound on Highway 270 pulling the trailer when she collided with the 2003 Chevrolet pick-up of Christopher Weber, age 25, of Brandon, SD. Weber suffered no apparent injuries.